Last night my wife and I were talking about the covid virus again and we agreed that even though we lead mostly isolationists lives there still the chance that we could have contracted the virus but experienced no ill effects from it. It has been more than 10 years since either of us has been sick at all.
Pondering that further I remembered an incident from about 4 years ago. At a routine yearly check up at the Indy VA hospital it was suggested that I get a blood test as it can show problems that may not be apparent in other ways so I said, “Sure.” I want good news fast and bad news even faster. The results came back about a week later and the doctor called me and told me that I tested positive for hepatitis C. I was dumbstruck. I had no clue. The doctor told me all the ways that hep C, a blood borne disease, can be transmitted and I met none of those requirements. Except one.
Military soldiers, especially those in combat arms units stationed overseas, have to endure massive amounts of almost monthly injections through needles and pneumatic guns. I had over 300 in the 4 years I was in, and have the scars on my arms still to prove it. I remember standing in long lines of soldiers with our fatigue shirts off and t-shirt sleeves rolled up and medics on both sides jabbing us and shooting us as we moved ahead in the conveyor. Sometimes 6 or more shots in a row. Once, a medic in front of me was reloading the air gun he was shooting and he did a test fire in midair and a long jet of the stuff went flying. I was surprised how much there was and how far it flew. No wonder it hurt like hell and all of us soldiers had multiple streams of blood running down both arms and dripping off our fingertips.
The face of the air guns had a round flat paddle that was placed firmly upon the upper bicep and the trigger was pulled. It was fairly painful and when the fluid was forced into the tissue under high pressure there was blowback onto the paddle. The blood running down the soldiers arms was also all over the face of the paddles. After the first soldier, all subsequent soldiers were injected in part by his blood that was on the paddle. Each soldier contributed to the blowback and the last guy in line received the most complex cocktail. THAT was how I contracted hep C. Somebody ahead of me in line had it and everyone after him received it.
I got out of the army in 1978 and it was not until 2016 that I was tested for the hep C and found positive. Hep C was not discovered until 1994 but I was told that it most likely has always existed. They just didn’t have the technology to “see” it until 1994.
Lay a window screen down flat across a bucket and pour pond water through it. The screen will trap the detritus to big to flow through the grid. Smaller stuff goes right through. A screen with even smaller holes will block even smaller stuff. I’ll come back to this.
The VA said the army was responsible for my hep C and they would provide a “cure” for it at no cost to me. Otherwise, the cost would be $1000.00 per pill and 84 pills, one per day, are required. So I spent almost 3 months getting cured. This was in 2016.
While taking the pills I did immense research. So deep that I had to research a lot of other stuff first in order to understand what the research on hep C meant. Basically, using the window screen analogy above, prior to 1994 the medical technology did not exist to detect hep C even though hep C is presumed to have always existed. The holes in the window screen were too big and the hep C just flowed right through. Technology is always advancing and even though as of right now I am showing no evidence of the existence of hep C in my system that doesn’t mean it does not exist in me. It only means that they are unable to detect it right now. In the future they will develope window screens with even smaller holes and at that time the virus will show up. The doctor in charge of the hep C dept at the VA tried her best to tell me over and over that I was cured but I knew better. It took me 2 weeks to finagle the right words and in the right order to get her to admit that I will never really be fully cured. Hep C will most likely always exist in my system and even though undetectable right now, in the future a new “screen” with tighter weave may show it.
This is the problem that is built in to all things at the atomic or molecular level because of the nature of how the atoms and molecules live and die and their lifespans in between.
So, in summation, I had a deadly disease for 38 years and didn’t know it and showed no symptoms of it. Then out of the blue strangers told me I have it, then they told me they cured it, and even still I have nothing to show for it. Except some scaring on my liver that could potentially kill me. You don’t kill or remove viruses in their entirety, you deal with them the best you can and then live with them the best you can. No mask required.
One last thing. Having been married to my wife for 36 years and the nature of my lifestyle and that she has touched my blood numerous times there is a probability that she may have the hep C virus even though she exhibits no symptoms. She was never in the military and the military said it will not address her possible condition in this regard. This, and a host of other reasons, are why I will NEVER be in support of anything military, or gov’t.
MIKE GUENTHEROctober 4, 2020, 11:03 AM
GS,
I also got the Hep C from my military service. Went in 76 and got out in 79. Same thing, multiple inoculations with needles and the guns. I found out in 2010 I had it. You only had to take a daily pill for yours with probably minimal side effects.
I had a three drug cocktail for a year, well one drug for 3 months at 12 grand a month. Plus another drug twice a day for a year and weekly shot. They said I’m “cured” too. I estimated the cost of my treatment at around 200 grand, not counting Drs visits and lab work.
It’s estimated that about 4 percent of the general population has the Hep C, but there are approximately 17 to 21 percent of veterans, mostly from Korean war and Nam era, who have it. Most don’t know they have it, unless they contract liver cancer or cirrhosis of the liver or get a blood test like you and I did.
PA CatOctober 4, 2020, 1:15 PM
Apropos of DJT’s recovery: A caravan of Trump supporters called “The Long Island Loud Majority” closed down Fifth Avenue in NYC early Sunday morning:
“The long line of cars, trucks and motorcycles had mostly driven into the city from Long Island — grinding traffic to halt for at least 30 minutes as they arrived to loudly cheer for the president outside his Trump Tower home. They constantly blared horns and waved flags — with loud chants of ‘four more years!’ in support of the commander in chief’s re-election bid. The noise stopped for at least a moment as the group called for a moment of silence to send a prayer.”
There were cops standing nearby but no arrests and no hassles.
ghostsniperOctober 5, 2020, 4:35 AM
Mike,
It requires a specific type of blood test. The standard test won’t detect the enzyme profile of the Hep C virus. I’ve told 6 of my old army buddies about this and all of them dismiss it outright, saying they don’t feel infected. sigh I have told them the details but none of them want to have anything to do with the VA.
In 1976 all 1000+ soldiers in my unit, 54th Engr Bn, Wildflecken, Germany, were infected with the swine flu virus and we weren’t told about it until over a year later. We assumed it was a regular inoculation like we routinely got. Then, 30 days later, our blood samples were retrieved to create a vaccine. About half of us got sick as hell.
In the early 50’s a similar incident occurred with Air Force soldiers in Japan during the Korean War. My dad was one of the soldiers. That infection caused my dad to lose his hearing 20 years later and the military denied any involvement. My dad died in 1980 at age 47 and a few years later a class action was filed against the military about this and a settlement was levied. This of course did nothing for my dad who was already gone. Did their 1950’s experiment on my dad, and other soldiers, cause long term progressive heart disease that caused the heart attack that killed him? We will never know.
Keep track of your hep c issue because it may come back to haunt you. I do a yearly sonogram at the VA to detect liver scarring and of course the blood test. I have also developed a thoracic aortic aneurysm (think John Ritter) that may be a result of the hep c too that must be monitored by a yearly MRI. Sometimes I wish I had never been a soldier, ie., military guinea pig.
MIKE GUENTHEROctober 5, 2020, 11:24 AM
I have A-Fib for the third time since I was treated for the disease. The first time was as a result of side effects for one of the drugs I was taking.
As far as checking the liver for cirrhosis, they did an ultrasound biopsy on me. They stick a big ass needle in the right side of your chest and after missing the lung, hopefully, they take a sample from your liver to be tested for cancer and cirrhosis. The ultrasound is for the doctor to look at as he’s shoving the needle in.
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Who Am I? by Carl Sandburg
My head knocks against the stars.
My feet are on the hilltops.
My finger-tips are in the valleys and shores of universal life.
Down in the sounding foam of primal things I reach my hands and play with pebbles of destiny.
I have been to hell and back many times.
I know all about heaven, for I have talked with God.
I dabble in the blood and guts of the terrible.
I know the passionate seizure of beauty
And the marvelous rebellion of man at all signs reading “Keep Off.”
My name is Truth and I am the most elusive captive in the universe.
Duty, Beauty, Liberty, Country, Honor, Family, Faith — Plus a few simple easy to follow rules for guys
Men saw the stars at the edge of the sea
They thought great thoughts about liberty
Poets wrote down words that did fit
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To carry it on
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Your heart will be strong
About it
Many’s the road I have walked upon
Many’s the hour between dusk and dawn
Many’s the time
Many’s the mile
I see it all now
Through the eyes of a child
Take it where you find it
Can’t leave it alone
You will find a purpose
To carry it on
Mainly when you find it
Your heart will be strong
About it
[Chorus]
Lost dreams and found dreams
In America
In America
In America
Lost dreams and found dreams
In America
In America
In America
And close your eyes
Leave it all for a while
Leave the world
And your worries behind
You will build on whatever is real
And wake up each day
To a new waking dream
Take it where you find it
Can’t leave it alone
You will find a purpose
To carry it on
Mainly when you find it
Your heart will be strong
About it
[Chorus]
Change, change come over
Change come over
Talkin’ about a change
Change, change
Change come over, now
Change, change, change come over
I’m gonna walk down the street
Until I see
My shining light
I’m gonna walk down the street
Until I see
My shining light
I’m gonna walk down the street
Until I see
My shining light
I’m gonna walk down the street
Until I see
My shining light
I see my light
See my light
See my shining light
I see my light
See my light
See my shining light
![The Complete "Growl" [Because Now More Than Ever]](https://americandigest.org/wp/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/brainsinjar-150x150.jpg "The Complete \"Growl\" [Because Now More Than Ever]")
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Comments on this entry are closed.
“Media upset he fails to denounce white supremacists.”
clown show
https://www.barnhardt.biz/2020/10/03/the-wittiest-thing-ive-seen-in-years/
Last night my wife and I were talking about the covid virus again and we agreed that even though we lead mostly isolationists lives there still the chance that we could have contracted the virus but experienced no ill effects from it. It has been more than 10 years since either of us has been sick at all.
Pondering that further I remembered an incident from about 4 years ago. At a routine yearly check up at the Indy VA hospital it was suggested that I get a blood test as it can show problems that may not be apparent in other ways so I said, “Sure.” I want good news fast and bad news even faster. The results came back about a week later and the doctor called me and told me that I tested positive for hepatitis C. I was dumbstruck. I had no clue. The doctor told me all the ways that hep C, a blood borne disease, can be transmitted and I met none of those requirements. Except one.
Military soldiers, especially those in combat arms units stationed overseas, have to endure massive amounts of almost monthly injections through needles and pneumatic guns. I had over 300 in the 4 years I was in, and have the scars on my arms still to prove it. I remember standing in long lines of soldiers with our fatigue shirts off and t-shirt sleeves rolled up and medics on both sides jabbing us and shooting us as we moved ahead in the conveyor. Sometimes 6 or more shots in a row. Once, a medic in front of me was reloading the air gun he was shooting and he did a test fire in midair and a long jet of the stuff went flying. I was surprised how much there was and how far it flew. No wonder it hurt like hell and all of us soldiers had multiple streams of blood running down both arms and dripping off our fingertips.
The face of the air guns had a round flat paddle that was placed firmly upon the upper bicep and the trigger was pulled. It was fairly painful and when the fluid was forced into the tissue under high pressure there was blowback onto the paddle. The blood running down the soldiers arms was also all over the face of the paddles. After the first soldier, all subsequent soldiers were injected in part by his blood that was on the paddle. Each soldier contributed to the blowback and the last guy in line received the most complex cocktail. THAT was how I contracted hep C. Somebody ahead of me in line had it and everyone after him received it.
I got out of the army in 1978 and it was not until 2016 that I was tested for the hep C and found positive. Hep C was not discovered until 1994 but I was told that it most likely has always existed. They just didn’t have the technology to “see” it until 1994.
Lay a window screen down flat across a bucket and pour pond water through it. The screen will trap the detritus to big to flow through the grid. Smaller stuff goes right through. A screen with even smaller holes will block even smaller stuff. I’ll come back to this.
The VA said the army was responsible for my hep C and they would provide a “cure” for it at no cost to me. Otherwise, the cost would be $1000.00 per pill and 84 pills, one per day, are required. So I spent almost 3 months getting cured. This was in 2016.
While taking the pills I did immense research. So deep that I had to research a lot of other stuff first in order to understand what the research on hep C meant. Basically, using the window screen analogy above, prior to 1994 the medical technology did not exist to detect hep C even though hep C is presumed to have always existed. The holes in the window screen were too big and the hep C just flowed right through. Technology is always advancing and even though as of right now I am showing no evidence of the existence of hep C in my system that doesn’t mean it does not exist in me. It only means that they are unable to detect it right now. In the future they will develope window screens with even smaller holes and at that time the virus will show up. The doctor in charge of the hep C dept at the VA tried her best to tell me over and over that I was cured but I knew better. It took me 2 weeks to finagle the right words and in the right order to get her to admit that I will never really be fully cured. Hep C will most likely always exist in my system and even though undetectable right now, in the future a new “screen” with tighter weave may show it.
This is the problem that is built in to all things at the atomic or molecular level because of the nature of how the atoms and molecules live and die and their lifespans in between.
So, in summation, I had a deadly disease for 38 years and didn’t know it and showed no symptoms of it. Then out of the blue strangers told me I have it, then they told me they cured it, and even still I have nothing to show for it. Except some scaring on my liver that could potentially kill me. You don’t kill or remove viruses in their entirety, you deal with them the best you can and then live with them the best you can. No mask required.
One last thing. Having been married to my wife for 36 years and the nature of my lifestyle and that she has touched my blood numerous times there is a probability that she may have the hep C virus even though she exhibits no symptoms. She was never in the military and the military said it will not address her possible condition in this regard. This, and a host of other reasons, are why I will NEVER be in support of anything military, or gov’t.
GS,
I also got the Hep C from my military service. Went in 76 and got out in 79. Same thing, multiple inoculations with needles and the guns. I found out in 2010 I had it. You only had to take a daily pill for yours with probably minimal side effects.
I had a three drug cocktail for a year, well one drug for 3 months at 12 grand a month. Plus another drug twice a day for a year and weekly shot. They said I’m “cured” too. I estimated the cost of my treatment at around 200 grand, not counting Drs visits and lab work.
It’s estimated that about 4 percent of the general population has the Hep C, but there are approximately 17 to 21 percent of veterans, mostly from Korean war and Nam era, who have it. Most don’t know they have it, unless they contract liver cancer or cirrhosis of the liver or get a blood test like you and I did.
Apropos of DJT’s recovery: A caravan of Trump supporters called “The Long Island Loud Majority” closed down Fifth Avenue in NYC early Sunday morning:
“The long line of cars, trucks and motorcycles had mostly driven into the city from Long Island — grinding traffic to halt for at least 30 minutes as they arrived to loudly cheer for the president outside his Trump Tower home. They constantly blared horns and waved flags — with loud chants of ‘four more years!’ in support of the commander in chief’s re-election bid. The noise stopped for at least a moment as the group called for a moment of silence to send a prayer.”
https://nypost.com/2020/10/04/trump-supporters-close-5th-ave-in-nyc-support-to-sick-president/
There were cops standing nearby but no arrests and no hassles.
Mike,
It requires a specific type of blood test. The standard test won’t detect the enzyme profile of the Hep C virus. I’ve told 6 of my old army buddies about this and all of them dismiss it outright, saying they don’t feel infected. sigh I have told them the details but none of them want to have anything to do with the VA.
In 1976 all 1000+ soldiers in my unit, 54th Engr Bn, Wildflecken, Germany, were infected with the swine flu virus and we weren’t told about it until over a year later. We assumed it was a regular inoculation like we routinely got. Then, 30 days later, our blood samples were retrieved to create a vaccine. About half of us got sick as hell.
In the early 50’s a similar incident occurred with Air Force soldiers in Japan during the Korean War. My dad was one of the soldiers. That infection caused my dad to lose his hearing 20 years later and the military denied any involvement. My dad died in 1980 at age 47 and a few years later a class action was filed against the military about this and a settlement was levied. This of course did nothing for my dad who was already gone. Did their 1950’s experiment on my dad, and other soldiers, cause long term progressive heart disease that caused the heart attack that killed him? We will never know.
Keep track of your hep c issue because it may come back to haunt you. I do a yearly sonogram at the VA to detect liver scarring and of course the blood test. I have also developed a thoracic aortic aneurysm (think John Ritter) that may be a result of the hep c too that must be monitored by a yearly MRI. Sometimes I wish I had never been a soldier, ie., military guinea pig.
I have A-Fib for the third time since I was treated for the disease. The first time was as a result of side effects for one of the drugs I was taking.
As far as checking the liver for cirrhosis, they did an ultrasound biopsy on me. They stick a big ass needle in the right side of your chest and after missing the lung, hopefully, they take a sample from your liver to be tested for cancer and cirrhosis. The ultrasound is for the doctor to look at as he’s shoving the needle in.